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Mild Mannered Reviews - Supergirl Comics

Supergirl #55

Supergirl #55

Scheduled to arrive in stores: August 18, 2010

Cover date: October 2010

"Fakeouts"

Writer: Sterling Gates
Penciller: Jamal Igle
Inker: John Dell, Marc Deering, Richard Friend

Reviewed by: Jeffrey Bridges

Click to enlarge



Six weeks ago on Bizarroworld, Bizarro was planning to take a trip with Bizzarogirl (to avoid the "god-ship") when Bizarro Lois and Bizarro Jimmy stopped him from leaving with the ship.

Bizarrogirl is admiring her handiwork with the turned-to-(shiny?)-lead Supergirl, Jimmy gets mad that Supergirl is dead and Bizarrogirl threatens to cook and eat him.

Then Kara (suddenly not made of lead) is hitting Bizarrogirl with... herself made of lead. Turns out Bizaarogirls's solid-vision only encases people in lead, not turns them into it. And using a lesson learned from the Flash, Kara vibrated all of her molecules fast enough to slip through the casing and escape. Then Bizarrogirl hits her.

At the Daily Planet, Cat is trying to talk to Perry about another story on Supergirl, but he's on the phone and uninterested. Cat gets a mysterious package and slips away with it.

Kara recovers as Bizarrogirl fights Gangbuster, who's trying to shoot her.

Supergirl and Bizaarogirl fight. Bizarros get their power from a blue sun, and Supergirl has apparently talked to Dr. Light who said and so light from a K-class star should take their powers away. Dr. Light then presumably hits Bizarro girl with K-class starlight and Supergirl flicks her in the head and knocks her out.

Dr. Light wants to take Bizarrogirl to STAR Labs to discover what makes her work and because she's a murderer, and Kara doesn't like that so she punches out Dr. Light.

Kara takes Bizarrogirl back to her ship and launches into space, heading for Bizaaroworld.

3Story - 3: There's often a problem whenever ANY Bizarro shows up in any book. The writers can't seem to decide if they speak in reverse-speak or not, so what ends up happening is some kind of mishmash of reverse-speak and normal speech with bad grammar.

The end result that unfortunately every line from every Bizarro pulls me out of the story, because you have to figure out if they're speaking in reverse-speak or not with every line they say. There's never been any consistency there, and this issue is no different. Sadly it's a prime example of reverse-speak whenever they feel like it, bad grammar normal speak whenever they don't (or whenever conveying the line in reverse-speak would perhaps be too difficult).

The other problem is the resolution to the solid-vision problem (Kara not really being turned solid) is a complete deus ex and it doesn't work in the context that the book set up last issue.

Forgetting the fact that solid-vision or turning-things-to-lead vision isn't really the opposite of X-ray vision, if that IS the power then that's the power. If you're saying the opposite of X-ray vision is solid-vision, even if I disagree with the choice, the power is SOLID-VISION.

It makes no sense whatsoever that it would instead be "encasing things in a lead shell" vision. That's not the opposite of anything remotely like X-ray vision. And don't Bizarros already have Ice Vision, since they have Heat Breath? I do believe they do.

Which means the exact same thing could have been accomplished with an already-established power. But then we'd all know Supergirl could have broken out of ice so we wouldn't be surprised, right?

And that's the exact problem. The "solid-vision" was done to make you think Kara was in real peril, and of course she never really was. It's a bad gimmick to add arbitrary drama, and it failed.

What's worse is why add in all the nonsense about Kara having to vibrate her molecules to escape? She's fully powered and encased in lead, and you're telling me she couldn't just break out of it? Heck, the *lead* version of herself cracks into pieces when she hits Bizarrogirl with it, but she couldn't just instantly shatter it from inside and be free?

That whole section of the book is a big pile of nonsense, which is exactly what I was afraid was going to happen last issue when "encasing things in lead vision" nee "solid vision" was introduced. It's a lame power that doesn't even make any sense, and then the only premise you can even cling to that makes it the opposite of a Kryptonian power is tossed aside to make it easily escapable.

Other than that the story moved along nicely, though I don't feel Kara's motivation for KOing Dr. Light and taking Bizarrogirl back to Bizarro World. Bizarrogirl DID kill someone, and Kara feels she shouldn't go to STAR Labs? But why?

If it's because Kara's worried about the Bizarros and the "god-ship" and Bizarro World then I can buy it, but if Kara's worried about that it didn't come across in-story. That point should have been driven home a bit better.

On the whole the issue isn't terrible by any means, but it's not without a pile of problems.

More story and character, less lame gimmicks to add pointless drama (with deus ex resolutions) please!

4Art - 4: Nothing to complain about, and the panel of Bizarrogirl running through the field and throwing flowers is pretty priceless.

5Cover Art - 5: Thaaaaaat's what I'm talking about!


Mild Mannered Reviews

2010

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

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